MEDIA RELEASE

The Queen’s Health Systems, corporate parent of The Queen’s Medical Center, announced it has officially entered into an agreement with North Hawaii Community Hospital.

This agreement will allow Queen’s to explore the possibility of a formal affiliation with NHCH, as well as conduct in-depth due diligence into physical and regulatory requirements on next steps before moving forward.

The Queen’s Medical Center has had a clinical affiliation with NHCH since 2005.

“Queen’s remains mindful and dedicated to our mission to provide in perpetuity quality health services to improve the well-being of Native Hawaiians and all the people of Hawaii,” said Art Ushijima, President of The Queen’s Medical Center.

“North Hawaii Community Hospital shares a similar mission. Founded in 1859 by Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV, Queen’s has served its mission of providing quality healthcare services for over 153 years,” Ushijima said. “If given the opportunity, we would dedicate ourselves to serving the people of North Hawaii with the same standard of excellence that has been the foundation of our founders’ values and vision.”

The specific nature of any affiliation between Queen’s and North Hawaii will be determined and announced after due diligence is completed. That process is expected to take between 90 to 120 days. Both organizations have signed confidentiality agreements.

“We are very encouraged about the possibility of a formal affiliation with The Queen’s Health Systems,” said Bob Momsen, NHCH Board of Directors Chairman since 2008. “Queen’s was instrumental in the founding of NHCH, in the early fund raising, and has consistently been very supportive of the needs of NHCH and our North Hawaii community over the years. Affiliating with Queen’s will dramatically improve our ability to fulfill our mission: Improving the health status of the people of North Hawaii.”

North Hawaii Community Hospital is a private, non-profit community hospital that serves more than 30,000 residents in North Hawaii. Located in Waimea, NHCH opened in May 1996. Its mission is to improve the health status of the people of North Hawaii by improving access to care and providing high-quality services at a reasonable cost. NHCH is an acute-care hospital with 33 licensed beds, 24 hour emergency services, 376 employees, and 68 active physicians.

The Queen’s Health Systems is a not-for-profit corporation established in 1985 to provide expanded health care capabilities to the people of Hawaii and the Pacific Basin. It is Hawaii’s oldest and preeminent family of health care-related companies, and employs 5,000 employees.

QHS consists of The Queen’s Medical Center, The Queen’s Health Care Centers, Queen Emma Land Company, Queen’s Development Corporation, Queen’s Insurance Exchange, Inc., and Molokai General Hospital, and has ownership interests in CareResource Hawaii, Hamamatsu/Queen’s PET Imaging Center, and Diagnostic Laboratory Services, Inc.